105. Spotlight on Crepuscular Meadows: the sad tale of Cinderella
Created | Updated Sep 25, 2020
105. Spotlight on Crepuscular Meadows: the sad tale of Cinderella
Geronimo and Penelope Labecque were still having a good time keeping Penelope's children busy and engaged with their puppet theater. Their section of Hoohaw Street was busier than it had been in years, what with childish feet and voices constantly going around getting things ready for whatever new production was next on the agenda.
But in their enthusiasm for show business, they almost failed to notice that Penelope's oldest daughter, Cindy, was developing mental problems.
Looking back, Geronimo and Penelope realized that the August production of "Cinderella" was something of a turning point for the girl. Cindy was eight, with a pixy face, beautiful blond hair, and a nice complexion. In short, she was the most obvious choice for the role of Cinderella that anyone had ever seen. And she didn't just handle a Cinderella puppet. She came around to stand in front of the puppet stage before the show and gave an introduction to what was going to happen.
Then she became seriously depressed when the show ran its course and she was asked to take on other roles. She spent a lot of time in bed, weeping, and despairing about the fact that the Prince was going to invite her mother and stepfather to his ball, but not let her go.
Geronimo and Penelope were gobsmacked. After two weeks of this, and the prospect of school starting again any minute, they feared she would beg to stay home sick.
They called Crepuscular Meadows Hospital to see if they had any staff psychiatrists who could help with their daughter. August Himmelfarb offered to have an initial consultation with the girl. As it was hard to get her out of the house, Himmelfarb came to visit her. He was a very personable man in his mid-thirties with dark hair and a youthful face that made him look younger than his years.
He sat on the edge of Cindy's bed and asked her to give him her side of things. What she told him was cause for some concern: when she was cast as Cinderella for the show, she realized that her previous life had been a false one, that she really was Cinderella, lost in the shuffle of six younger children, with a mother who couldn't or wouldn't address her emotional needs, and an unfriendly stepfather who wanted to take the family in a bad direction.
"There's a prince out there for me, and I will never meet him, because my parents won't lift a finger to help me find him," she said between sobs. "All they want to do is their silly jobs, and put on all these silly puppet entertainments that have no purpose, and distract everyone from helping me find my prince."
This will not be the last spotlight on this topic, as Mr. Himmelfarb has his work cut out for him. Luckily, he has considerable experience in family therapy, so the whole family will get some beneficial counseling.
Let's remember that a tragedy happened to Penelope and her children when her husband died. This was perhaps the trauma that planted the seeds for Cindy's delusion and depression. The sudden marriage to Geronimo didn't let the children get gradually accustomed to their new stepparent. And Cindy, as the oldest, had extra responsibilities for looking after the younger ones.
There are no villains here.
let's wish the Labecque Family the best of fortune as they try to move on from this.
The rest of Crepuscular Meadows has not found out about this yet. Cindy is perhaps too young for a suitor, but the parents might tactfully invite some really nice boys Cindy's age over to see if she might like one of them.
